After
by Sagashiteru
Summary: Kallen sees him again, a year after he supposedly died. (Because there are some wounds time can't heal.) Oneshot. Lelouch/Kallen


_Sayonara aenakunatta tte_

 _Bokura wa tsuzuki ga aru kara_

 _Kimi no inai sekai datte hashiru yo_

 _Itsuka no itami mo koete…_

 _Koete_

Toumei datta Sekai – Artist: Hata Motohiro

The world is a better place. The people walk without fear weighing on their shoulders. Their movements are carefree. Smiles come easy. Laughs are abundant. Not a one of them has any inclination it is all due to the Demon King they curse.

The past year has been the most painfully beautiful time of her life. It seems as though everyone has perpetual smiles on their faces. Japan has finally begun to recover. The alliance between its Black Knights and Empress Nunnally vi Britannia ensures that the Japanese and Britannians can finally stand on equal ground. The student council is better than ever; Rivalz has finally mustered the courage to ask Milly out, and even though she no longer goes to school, she still visits the Academy several times every week. To everyone's surprise, she told him tearfully that she's been waiting years for him to ask her, and now they're the most sickeningly sweet couple around, second perhaps only to Ohgi and Villetta, whose affection for each other marriage has done nothing to dampen. Empress Nunnally is bringing revolution to the world, her faithful bodyguard Zero at her side at all times. The world is a beautiful place, but just to her, the colors feel a little washed out. Her smile is just a little too strained, the pain behind her eyes just a little too visible.

It's a faraway village she comes to on some business. The people walk with a light step here, their burdens removed by Lelouch's sacrifice. Kallen looks around with a sad smile, watching children run around, shrieking in joy, and wonders if she is a bad person for thinking she'd damn them all as long as it meant seeing _him_ again, just once more.

 _xXx_

As she exits the store, she bumps into someone. Her eyes are downcast. She doesn't see the other person's face, but mutters a quiet "sorry" for her clumsiness. The man doesn't say anything, but steps aside, flattening himself against the doorway so she could pass unhindered.

 _xXx_

She thanks him softly. She passes him in a hurry, but as she does, she freezes, for she's caught a glimpse.

 _xXx_

Her heart explodes in her chest, and she looks back at him, and feels as if lightning has struck her, shocking her in her place.

Dare she believe?

 _xXx_

She stares, and for a moment she wonders if the grief she hides had finally driven her insane, for royal violet eyes stare back at her. The man is holding his breath, looking guardedly at her, his black hair falling around his face.

 _xXx_

He leads her to the outskirts of the village; they can't very well talk where someone could hear them. He is hated in every corner of the world; she shudders to think what would happen if anyone were to find him. He leads her into the woods, knowing he can't avoid her questions anymore. When they are far enough away that no one will hear them, he stops, and turns to her.

 _xXx_

"Lelouch…" she says.

"Kallen…"

"You're alive…? How are you still alive?"

"Are you going to kill me?"

Tears sting her eyes. She blinks them away angrily. She is _not_ going to cry over him any longer. "I realized your _brilliant plan_ , you know. The moment Suzaku appeared."

He says nothing.

"The Black Knights know too, now. Tamaki still tells anyone who'll listen how you were his best friend and how we betrayed you."

"Good old Tamaki, huh? I always liked that guy."

"You've been alive all this time?"

"…"

"Do you know how it made everyone feel? How it made Nunnally feel?" Her voice shakes. "How it made me feel?"

"I created a better world for those I left behind."

"I still cry. Every day."

"I wanted you to move on, to keep going, to not stop because of me."

She swipes she air with her arm in frustration. "Lelouch! What do I mean to you? You act like you don't give a fuck about me! You say I was a pawn in your great game, then, out of the blue, once in a while you say something that gives me some impossible hope like a lovestruck schoolgirl. Do you know what it did to me when you disappeared? I go to your grave every day – tell you how school is, how Nunnally is, how Suzaku is. Do you mean to tell me you've been alive all this time? Don't you give a fuck about me? Then why did you tell me to live? Why do you want me to go on?" Her tears are falling now, but she doesn't care. "Tell me! Just what do I mean to you?"

"…"

"…"

"Everything," he says softly.

Her chest constricts, and suddenly, it becomes hard to breathe.

"Ohgi said I should start dating."

He laughs uncomfortably. "He always has good advice, huh, that Ohgi?"

She is unfazed. "I told him I'll never be with anyone as long as I live."

What is that lump in his throat?

"It's okay to be happy, you know," she says.

He blinks, and looks away, a bitter expression on his face. "No. It's not just a better world for you guys. It's also my redemption. For Clovis – for Euphie – for all those Japanese."

"It's not your fault. Your Knights forgive you… Your brothers and sisters forgive you… Suzaku forgives you…" She hesitates, and whispers the next part. "I forgive you…" He looks at her sharply. "When will you forgive yourself?"

He sighs. "You know, in a different time, a different world… you could have been my Empress."

She hugs him. "I love you."

"I'm sorry."

"I love you."

"Never leave me."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll never leave you again."

His arms reach around her and hold her close, as if she is the very air he needs to breathe.

* * *

"She's still not back," Ohgi says, a week after Kallen's disappearance.

"She won't come back," her mother says softly.

"What?"

"Her heart died with Emperor Lelouch. Let her be."

"But what if she - "

"Then there's nothing to be done. Her life is her own to live, and her own to take. Stop worrying about her. Don't get me wrong; I don't want to lose my daughter. In fact, I'll probably follow her soon."

"But -"

"But I can't keep her here against her will. She'd prefer finding her happiness in her own way instead of surviving as an empty shell. Drop it, Ohgi."

* * *

 **I almost wish the ending to Code Geass sucked. i literally cry every time i watch it, but it's still the most beautiful ending i've ever seen. i cant even resent it.**


End file.
